Study Reveals Discrepancies in Meghalaya's Schooling System Amidst Population Concerns

SHILLONG: A recent study of the educational scenario in Meghalaya has revealed a shocking disparity between the number of schools and the population of the state.

Although Meghalaya has a smaller population than Tripura, it has 14,582 schools, which is in stark contrast to the 4,929 institutions in Tripura. The distribution shows 7,783 government schools and 4,172 aided schools, with a total of 55,160 teachers.

In contrast, Manipur, with a population of almost the same number, runs only 4,617 schools. Nationally aided schools constitute less than 5% of the total, but in Meghalaya, this increases to 29%. Kerala, with a population ten times bigger, runs only 15,864 schools, and Himachal Pradesh, with more difficult terrain, runs 17,826 schools for its 68.64 lakh people.

This report also throws light on alarming enrollment disparities, as 206 schools reported no students, and 2,269 schools have single-digit attendance.

For SSA schools, 30 reported zero enrollments and 268 reported less than ten students. The government schools were not any better, as 11 schools reported no students and 132 had single-digit enrollments.

One of the reasons for this discrepancy is that individual schools are counted multiple times. According to the report, private schools tend to apply for a wide range of government grants, thereby inflating the data. Once the duplicates are removed, the actual number of unique schools in the state reduces to 10,867, which shows a huge overestimation of 3,029 institutions.

Also Read: Day 2 of DCs Conference Focuses on Arunachal’s Development

Also Watch: